Israeli repression on Palestinians cannot be tolerated: Speaker

Kuwait National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem

KUWAIT: Israel must not use Arab and Muslim countries’ engagement with internal disputes as an excuse to practice repression on the Palestinians, including its recent shutdown of Al-Aqsa Mosque to prayer-goers, Kuwait’s parliament chief said yesterday .

“Ongoing Zionist actions, including the shutting of Al-Aqsa Mosque and continuing repressive practices in Jerusalem and other occupied territories, is something that cannot be tolerated,” the lawmaker said in a statement. Kuwait’s National Assembly Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem suggested that Arab countries have remained “silent” because they have been occupied with regional disputes.

However, he underlined that Palestine is an issue that is of “deep emotional and historical significance” to Muslim populations worldwide. Israel’s actions could create public opinions able to sway their governments into encouraging international pressure on Tel Aviv, he warned.

Ghanem urged parliaments of Muslim countries and the free world to address Israel’s actions, commenting that these nations’ “peculiar silence” gives Israel full authority to do as it pleases with no regard to Security Council resolutions or international regulations.

After Israel’s war on Gaza, which included killings based on ethnicity, and illegal settlement expansions, coupled with the forced evacuation of Palestinians from their homes, come “unprecedented practices targeting Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he said. Israel on Friday shut the gates of one of Islam’s two most reverted holy sites, Al-Aqsa Mosque, for the first time since 1969 – a move which has sparked widespread criticism and anger across Arab and Muslim countries. – KUNA